What a C.J. Beathard offense might look like

IOWA CITY - Greg Davis showed some really great hands during the offensive coordinator's Wednesday news conference.

Several attempts were made to pry some information on the January quarterback switch from senior Jake Rudock to junior C.J. Beathard. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz made a point to release a depth chart in January and let both QBs know where they stood with the program.

Beathard was told he was the starter, and Rudock was told he wasn't and to plan accordingly. Fast forward to today, Beathard will finish his first spring practice as the Hawkeyes' starter with Saturday's spring game. Rudock will graduate in May and transfer to Michigan to play QB for new coach Jim Harbaugh.

Davis batted away those questions. He did, however, shed a little light on what propelled Beathard to jump a sitting two-year starting QB.

Iowa asks its quarterbacks to call plays at the line of scrimmage according to where the defense aligns. Davis said Beathard cut down the gap Rudock held here. Davis added that coaches liked Beathard's athletic ability all along.

Here, Davis will use the word 'upside,” and that tells you as much as anything what drove this decision. Yes, 'upside” is basically a coach word for 'potential,” but Iowa's offense needs more and the Iowa staff believes Beathard can deliver.

'We felt like physically that there was a bigger upside,” Davis said. 'And we're talking about a guy that's a really good player in Jake.

'We had to make a decision and sometimes it's what does your gut says. In words, it's not as easy as this, this or this. Part of it is what we've seen every day for the last couple of years and we just made a decision.”

The Iowa staff saw enough of Beathard to make the change. You've seen enough to be intrigued. In what was Iowa's most impressive victory of 2014, Beathard replaced an injured Rudock in the second half at Pittsburgh and helped turn a 17-7 halftime deficit into a 24-20 victory with three second-half scoring drives. Then, Beathard started the next week at Purdue and led Iowa (17 of 37 for 245 yards, TD and interception) to one of its two Big Ten road victories in 2014 (Iowa finished 2-2 in B1G road games).

What might a Beathard offense look like?

- There will be more 'shots:”

Beathard has a strong arm, something Ferentz and Davis have acknowledged since day 1 with the Nashville, Tenn., native. Here are some numbers to back that up: Rudock had four of Iowa's top 10 long plays last season, while Beathard had three. Rudock threw 3.75 passes to every 1.0 that Beathard attempted (345 passes to 92). Rudock completed 213 passes for 2,436 yards, an average of 11.43 per completion. Beathard completed 92 passes for 645 yards and an average of 12.40 per completion.

Beathard, who showed some range with a couple of long third down conversions in Iowa's scrimmage at Des Moines on April 11, has said he has a qualified green light to throw deep. Davis reiterated that Wednesday, both the green light part and the qualifications.

'He's going to take more shots,” Davis said. 'He's comfortable doing that. We've encouraged him to do that.

'At the same time we want him to play within down and distance parameters. It's second-and-9 and you've got a back sitting there open at 5 [yards], yeah, you've got a guy one-on-one, but the corner is in really good shape. Is that worthy of taking that shot or should we bring the ball down?

'He'll grow as he does it more and more, but we've been very pleased this spring at that part of your question.”

- Beathard's quick release should give receivers room and time to make plays:

This is the theory, anyway. Asked about this, Davis referenced a third-down completion Beathard converted at Pitt that led to a scoring drive. Pitt blitzed and covered Beathard's first option. He had to wait and then put a fastball where only tight end Ray Hamilton could catch it.

'It was a talent play,” Davis said. 'I mean he has really good arm talent.”

Davis said ball placement has been an emphasis this spring. The hope is Beathard delivers a quicker pass to the right spot and allows receivers to make some plays after the catch with that extra time and space.

On paper, the Iowa wide receivers, outside of senior Tevaun Smith, know they are an X Factor. Maybe Beathard can help the group progress.

'I think we embrace the fact that nobody knows about us and nobody is really scared of us,” junior wide receiver Matt VandeBerg said. 'With C.J. slinging it, I think we're all looking forward to that.”

- What Beathard can do as a runner will be explored

: Beathard rushed eight times for 82 yards against Tennessee in the 45-28 TaxSlayer Bowl defeat. Beathard finished last season with 5.57 yards on 27 carries, second most on the team among players who had 25 or more carries.

You've seen Iowa play footsie with the read-option QB run the last few seasons. Beathard wants to run that play. Davis wants to run that play, but, with Beathard being the only QB on the roster who's thrown a pass in a game, the green light also is qualified here. (By the way, Davis said he's liked the progress redshirt freshman Tyler Wiegers has shown, but this is the time of his career when he would be running with the No. 3 unit. Davis added that the plan for incoming freshmen QBs Drew Cook and Ryan Boyle is redshirt year.)

'You don't ever want to expose a quarterback to undue hits, but we will do some things where we feel like we can take advantage of his (Beathard's) legs,” Davis said. 'I think he will do some things just leaving the pocket on unscheduled runs.”

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